August 07, 2008

What Lies Behind

What Lies Behind

Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar Genesis 22:9

Bound – There is a deep connection between the binding of Isaac and Yeshua. There is a deep connection between the sacrifice of father Abraham and the Father. There is a deep connection between the ram and the look behind. But that’s not quite all of it.

The pictographic representation of the word akod (to bind) is found in the three consonants Ayin-Qof-Daleth. That picture is “to see the open palm over the horizon,” or “to experience what opens behind.” In other words, the Hebrew idea of binding is not related to our concepts of forced submission and powerlessness. It is related to the purpose of the binding, not to the event. That purpose points us toward the future where we experience the grace of God’s open hand. To be bound is to be placed in the hand of God. It is to put my life into His care. Because binding is consensual submission, it must be based on the trust that God’s open palm will be seen in the future.

The pictograph of akar (behind, afterward) is “to see what is behind a person.” Coupled with the Hebrew idea of the future, this word perfectly describes the rowboat man. But now we know something else that is very important. The rowboat man is bound. The rowboat does not pick out any marker on the past shoreline to set his course. He is bound by invisible (usually) constraints that require him to pick only one set of markers. He sets his course by them because he allows himself to be bound by them. He consents to one path and only one path. In this way, akod and akar are “bound” together.

Do you get it? To travel toward the future with Messiah Yeshua is to be bound to a single pathway. That pathway is the one He gave us – to keep His commandments as He kept His Father’s commandments. There is only one way. It is the way of torah. To travel with Yeshua is to be bound to Him so that we might experience His open hand grace here and in the future.

Pay no attention to the world’s proclamation that all roads lead to God. They do not! Flee the seduction that there are many paths to righteousness. There is only one! Be cautious of all who would discard the clear commandments of God, no matter how “reasonable” their arguments seem. God’s way is not reasonable. Does the connection between akod and akar make sense? Does it really seem sane to think that the way to peace is to be bound? Do we really imagine that the marks of suffering are the badges of trust? No, God does not ask us to think our way into His plan. He asks us to obey!

What lies behind is God’s open palm, but you can’t get there by looking over your shoulder. You can only get there by climbing up on the altar and letting Father bind you. Then you will experience what is over the horizon, completely out of sight to all who refuse to let the ropes hold them down.